Clinton



rests.

. t UNITED g STATES PATENT OFFICE.

oL'rNTfoN FOSTER," 0F LA PORTE COUNTY, INDIANA'.`

IM PRovEvl 5N-l"V `IN "HzARv-E-s'rl Nic-- MAC HiNEs.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 4,916, dated J annary 1,1847. l

To all whom t'may concern: f A

Be it known that I, ULrNToNFos'lEmof the county of La Porte, andl Stateof Indiana, have invented a new and useful Machine for Cutting andHarvesting-Grain, which I call Fosters Harvester l and Ifdo herebydeclare A that the following is a full, clear, and exact de-v ,principalwheels oh which the machine rests,

one ofwhich, B b, havingwi'thi-n its fell y a concave toothed wheel, CC, and which is the tirst mover of the whole machinery; D D D, spokes ofthe wheel B b; E, the dotted line showing the hub and axle of the wheelB b. F F are slidin g joists, in which the axle ofthe wheel B b Thesesliding joists are moved forward and backwardv by means of lever G,which lth rows the concave wheel C C outor into gear. H, dotted, is apinion working into the concave toothed wheel C C. This pinion is on the-axleI ofxanother concave-toothed wheel, K, supported by frame L. M isanotherpnion on the shaft of the drum N, meshing intotheconcave toothedwheel K, (shown in dotted lines;)

l ,0, box of the shaft of thrashingdrum, secured f to frame L; 'P, apinion on the shaft of the fanQ, carried by the concave-toothed wheelK;R, a pulley (doublelon .roller -S,to give motion' to. revolving cloth T.U U U, &c., are cleats across the revolving cloth T, to keep it in aproper position as well as to act as elevators; V V, upright posts' tosupport the shaft '.of the roller S.' The revolving cloth Tre ceives thestraw and grain from the thrashingdrum, elevating them to the raker W,the grain chieiiy fallin g between the roller S and the raker W into thesieve X. Yis a cylinder within the cylindrical raket-VV, to gage theprojections of the prongs Z ZZ, &c., which, in the revolutions of rakerW, are projected and withdrawn by their own gravity as often v as theyreach a vertical position. These prongs machine or teeth are intended toseparate and remove the -straw from the grain. a a., posts to supportthe shaft of the raker W; Vclo o, bands passing over the double pulleyR, to put the apron on revolving clotlrland the raker W in. motion. ,dis .a slide-board, onwhichthc grain is deposited by the revolvingapron'i., and slides down upon the thrashingdrurn N; e, a platform.`mr,8tc.,'dotted lines, shows the box whichcovers and/incloses theupperpart of thethrashing apparatus;fff, the frame of the reaping orcutting machine, strongly attached =to the frame-pieces L ofthethrashing g1g g, 85e., areA wooden points, projecting in advance of thecutters, to divide'aud gather the grain; h h h, Snc., the cutters;t' i,

- an iron or steel har above and across the'cutters, sharp' on its frontedge, to assist in cutting the grain k k, a har under the cutters,similar' to i l l, Src., iron rods, to which the cutters h h h areattached by screws, the other end of which rods are secured with collarsupon the eccentric wheels m m m, &c., which move the-cutters forward andbackward; n, the shaft upon -which the eccentric wheels m m,'&c., aresecured, at one end of which is the pinionO, meshing into the concavewheell G, p' is aI small beveled wheel at the other extremity `of shaftn, meshing into a' similar wheel, q, turning the shaft i' and with itthe roller s s; a, a wheel .to support the cutting apparatus traversingin frame fn,- w w, rests for the shaft r, secured to the frame j' f; oo,a brace; y, a post; Z, a rail outside of L and .parallel with it'.Betweenv theA rails L and Z a wheel corresponding in size to the wheel Bb 'is to be used, when then the cutting appara- "tus is detached and themachine used only as a thrashing-machine. A The axle of this wheel worksin the holes o c o c. t'v t' is a joist coumeetingl the framefof thecuttingmachine to 4 the frame L of the thrashing-machine; j, a box (notshown in the drawings) under the Wagon to receive the grain.

Fig. 2 shows the thrashing-drum with such parts as are attached when themachine is used only for thrashing. A A represents the frame; B, thethrashing-drum; C, apulley ou the axle of the drum; D, a slide-board; E,a roller with crooked teeth'to draw the 'unthrashed grain uniformlytoward the drum; F, a pulley on the shaft of roller E. Gr is a .pulleyupon `another shaft, in which the knives la k k are secured, and whichcut the bands of the sheaves before they reach the drum B, H H, &c.,dottedlines, is the'covering inclosing the drum, &c.; I I, the bauds onthe pulleys.

Fig. 3 shows the internal structure of the raker W; X', the innercylinder; y, the shaft;

Z Z Z, the prongs or teeth. b b b, &c., are the A, a view from above; C,the wooden pointsl in advance of the cutters; '1),' the upper ironplate; E, the cutters, triangular and sharp at base a a.; F, therodconnecting the cutters with the collar on the eccentric wheels m m, &c.,in Fig. l; b, b, the fastenings of the cutters to the' rodF.; c e, thefastenings of the upper bar, D, tothe lower bar, G, (not shown in thedrawings) by screws; d d, the framepiece, in which the rods F move inboxes.i B is a side view 'e e, the boxes, with square holes for therods. j', in dotted lines, shows the length of the stroke given by the'eccentric wheels. g g, dotted lines, shows the space through .which thegrain passes to be cut by the backward motion of the cutters E.

The operation of the harvester is as follows: Horses are attached as toa common wagon. The large wheel B b receives motion as the horsesadvance, and thus the concave toothed wheel G moves the pinion on theaxle of wheelK. The concave of this wheel K meshes into pinion M ontheshaft of the drum and also into the pinion P 'on the shaft of thefan, giving motion to both. 'The wheel C also gives motion to pinion oon shaft n, giving motion to the eccentric wheels m m m, -&c., by whichthe knives h are also put in motion.` p is a beveled pinion on shaft n,working in a similar pinion, gnou shaftw', which carries roller s.

and with it -the apron t. Thusas the'machine ,advances the grain is cutand falls upon the apron t, an'd is elevated to the slide-board d,sliding thence under the drum, which casts it violently up upon therevolving cloth T, which is moved by band c c, which is carriedby apulley ou the axle of K. This revolving cloth T carries the straw andgrain over upon cylin drical raker W, which is moved by band c,separating, the straw and grain, the former being carried over theraker, and the grain.

fallingl between it and the revolving cloth T, nponthe sieve .'v. Thesieve is shaken by pins in the felly of wheel K, tilting a lever. (Notshown in the drawings.)

This machine may be used merely for thrashing, either-traveling orstationary, when the cutting apparatus is detached and a wheel ot' thesize of B b is applied at c c c c on L and 4 Z, also the two rollerssho'wn in Fig. 2,-one

of which having sharpnknives to cut the bands," the other with curvedteeth to draw the'grain v within reach of the drum. These rollersreceive their motion from ay double-pulley, c, on the shaft of the drumby bands I and I, the band I being crossed, the remaining part ot' theoperation as before described.

What I claiinqas my invention, and desireto CLINTON FOSTER.

Witnesses:

J osHUA DowNrNG, WILLIAM B. GUs'rINE.

